.. footnote as it’s not at the bottom of the page ) there are some interesting parallels with another of my favourite movies ‘Ikuru”, the far more understated yet more touching work, by the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. If I have any regular readers they may, hopefully, have realised that I am not a…
But not for me, however, given that the few tools I had possessed unique migratory habits, flying with the Terns and Godwits to Siberia and beyond; this would leave Bunning’s unique selling proposition looming very large and very empty. Which leads me to Christmas and the inevitable “Wadja wunt” (which is etymologically related to “Emma…
..the family when I was a little boy. I think camping’s the present-day manifestation of men’s need to talk to Nature – and perhaps for Nature to talk back. It’s safer in this case to have Nature represent God and I think that most blokes would be comfortable with the communing with Nature metaphor. ‘Going…
..whip like appendages slaying the peaceful denizens as they listen to the passing traffic in the early morn. They only thing that I am sure of is that they will be flowers. In fact there are a lot of surprises at the moment as one forgets where one has planted bulbs and tubers and, at…
..smile and a good word for everybody does not qualify, I’m sorry. I’m talking about real charisma, the sort that makes a room fall silent and the hairs rise at the back of your neck. Politics is a fertile ground for charismatics – and, of course, now that I’ve used that particular derivation of the…
.. Paris and Spain, to which end Dick purchased the latest in trendy back packs, which he proudly showed me on the night I visited them recently in Warrandyte. (See Dick’s Toolbox). I said it looked very fine, but one should be careful when wielding such an item in polite society, and told him this…
Bearing in mind this is taken out of context, here’s what Michael Marissen had to say on the subject in his discussion with John Kleinig and Robin Leaver – I think you’ll get the gist: I mean there are two kinds of texts that people are uncomfortable with these days, no matter what their background….
.. a nice fellow but he spent too much time playing football without a helmet.” Not that being on the wrong side of clever means all that much as it is apparent that most people can be convinced to believe anything no matter how ridiculous. You may be with me in thinking that anybody who…
..writ large on it, followed by the Australian Government logo and the various logos of the sponsoring medical-type partners along the bottom – or maybe the sponsoring is on the other foot, it being a government project. I guess I’m inclined to do the poo test. My sister Ann was on my case last time…
.. is a Canadian citizen and Matt Canavan is an Italian citizen, claim that they did not know that had dual citizenship. Waters was born in Canada and moved to Australia as an infant. After Scott Ludlum, also another Green Senator discovered that he not actually given up his ability to carry both and Australian…
..simple, but in any case I’m generally pleased with the result. It seems that a lot of second-guessing has been replaced with an instinctive but apparently reliable certainty about what is required and how to get it. I don’t know if it’s a style exactly, but it’s a good starting point. No thought yet as…
..rampant sodomy and a political career. If there is a difference. As a consequence of a life in a chilled climate body surfing in Victoria seems almost like dipping in thermal springs. As a society we have transitioned from sports players to sports voyeurs. With the rise and rise of sport as entertainment more and…
..the diary I note down odd words and phrases that catch my attention and one of them was a comment on a popular bit of Newspeak. i.e. ‘forward’ is the new black. This touches on another gripe that probably falls into the realm of yer Grumpy Old Men, but just as the notion of progress…
..column over the years and regular readers will know it’s a love/hate thing anyway. Regulars will also know that the year drawing to a close always bothers me as my naturally sunny disposition is occluded by the clouds of general dissatisfaction with the state of Christmases past, present and future. (And I’m not a fucking…
..whilst trying not to be disturbed by the repetitious recounting of weekend exploits of the young, old and terminally stupid. Should I so choose I won’t be working again, as just before Christmas I was packaged out from my place of employment of the past 20 years, the result of one of its periodic and…
..are carried away by the northerly wind that bends the trees; the sand is now too hot to walk on in bare feet unless one adopts the hot-foot walk of a Namibian lizard; canvas is cracking in the wind and the horizon has upside down mirages of the container ships queuing to pass through the…
.. species into a myriad breeds many of whom would be lucky to survive for more than a week in the wild. I may be wrong but a snotty, gasping little creature like a pug with its appalling sinus problems has no evolutionary niche apart from the second floor of a high rise apartment. A…
..happened all those years ago maybe a few inchoate memories and feelings. When you become you is somewhere about the beginning of language and the ability to objectify yourself. Who is that little person in the mirror? Why is my brother hitting me? Why are other people bigger than me? Anyway, it is a delight…
.. traditional fasteners, but its use has spread into areas where buttons or studs do a perfectly serviceable job, and have done throughout history. Apart from anything else, I dislike the sound of velcro, and I imagine women who have hair removed from their legs and other more personal bits with wax strips like it…